


Parasocial

by FuffDumpster



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Social Media, dealing with being famous, idk what else to tag this as gkrjsngkjrsnh, marina is too attached to her fans, parasocial relationships, pearl gives good advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 06:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17402132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuffDumpster/pseuds/FuffDumpster
Summary: Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other's existence. Parasocial relationships are most common with celebrities, organizations (such as sports teams) or television stars.





	Parasocial

**Author's Note:**

> this fic isn't EXACTLY about parasocial relationships, its more about how marina tries to give back in these kinds of relationships despite not knowing any of these people and only seeing their comments on twitter. pearlina kinda takes a backseat to the point of this fic but don't be mistaken They Are Girlfriends.  
> inspired a lot by this video essay, its really interesting so maybe take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLA-uFKjQ-g  
> Thanks for reading!

Marina sat on the big circular bed that Pearl and herself shared in their apartment, tapping away on her laptop. The cold screen bathed her tired face in a sterile glow as she clicked through various tabs. The lyric brainstorming documents she had open, her chat client with a clutter of unanswered messages, another document with a coding project she was working on for fun, emails with plans for the next shift station, a HueTube crocheting tutorial, Twitter… oh, Twitter. Marina's mind became fixated for a split second, torn between common sense and the pull of the social media trance. She couldn't help herself, no matter the nagging voice in her head, and she went to scrolling down Twitter.

Her mentions were filled to an unmanageable amount, but she scrolled through, taking each tweet in. Messages filled her brain from the fans she adored with all her hearts, the pieces of fan art and sweet messages, as well as the nasty ones. The tweets that stuck out to her the most were the ones written in broken inkling, pouring their hearts out to her like she was their big sister or best friend. Many of the tweets  _ did _ refer to her as such, sometimes in a creepy and suffocating manner. She wanted to reply to every message she got, part of her really  _ needed _ to. These people depended on her. So many messages would flood in about how her and Pearl's music stopped them from committing suicide, or how when they first came to inkopolis their music was what made them feel like they weren't so alone.

Marina let out a sigh as she leaned back on the mountain of pillows against the headboard of the bed. She slowly began to type out thank yous and heartfelt responses to the kind messages she could get to. It felt almost robotic as she went on and on, leaving an empty pit in her gut. She couldn't just ignore her fans though, they depended on her… and she depended on them. Her and Pearl wouldn't be where they are without the support from all these squids, urchins, crabs, fish, anemones, ect. The clacking on the keyboard echoed slightly in the room as she lost herself to the pit of responding.

As her hearts began to ache slightly at all of the messages starting with “you probably won't see this…” or “I know you ignore my messages but…” she scrolled by, the door to the bedroom suddenly slammed open, causing marina to jump as she clutched her computer for comfort. Pearl stared at her for a second, a bag of take-out food in her arms. After a nervous moment Marina slowly let go of her laptop with a shaky laugh.

Pearl waddled her way over to the bed, looking up over the take out bag. “Sorry 'Reena! I hope I didn't like… wake ya up or anything, heh,” she apologized, plopping herself down on the bed next to the octoling, her hoodie puffing up slightly with air at the sudden movement and slowly flowing back down. She took out the little cartons of cheap greasy and wiggled them playfully in Marina's face. “A little 11pm snack! I got that honey walnut shrimp stuff you've been craving like half the week!”

Marina couldn't help but smile at the little inkling's offer, giggling. She reached over and took a box, Pearl handing her a pair of chopsticks. “Thanks Pearlie,” she murmured before digging into the sauce slathered shrimp.

The two sat on Pearl's bed munching away as Pearl rambled on about the newest spy movie she'd heard about. Marina half-way payed attention as she hesitantly went back to scrolling through Twitter as she ate. A certain tweet caught her eye and she frowned slightly as she swallowed down a bite. “Hey Pearl?” She asked, her voice faltering.

“-Apparently the effects artist is- Hmm?” Pearl stopped her infodump in its tracks and tilted her head at Marina.

Marina fiddled with her hands anxiously and looked over from the laptop at the tiny inkling. “You know when I say stuff like 'don't call me Reena’ on the news or whatever, I'm not being serious, right? That I'm just doing it for show?” she asked, looking a little sick to her stomach as she talked. “I don't think you're rude when you call me that, I think it's… sweet, yknow?”

Pearl raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at that line of question. “Uh… Yeeeah? I wouldn't call you that if it actually made you upset. Everything we talk about on the news is pretty fake anyways?” She wearily answered, picking up some greasy chow mein with her chopsticks and shoving it into her beak. “Why're ya askin’?”

“Well…” Marina started, twirling one of her tentacles with her finger, trying to look innocent. “There was this tweet and-”

“Marina.”

Marina squirmed like a seagull that’s been cornered after stealing food. “Look, Pearlie, I know but-”

Pearl set aside her food and rubbed her face in exasperation. “You know how you get with that kinda stuff, 'Reena. I thought we agreed you'd at least take a break with social media shit!”

“But they need me!” Marina raised her voice back. “Especially since all the octolings showed up! I'm… I'm like their only friend, Pearlie. I remember how alone I was when I first got to Inkopolis… I'm like- I'm like  _ their _ Pearl,” she hastily tried to explain, her hearts aching as she felt her face get hot with the threat of tears.

Pearl grabbed her hands and looked at her softly, attempting to calm her down. “Reena… they're not  _ friends _ , they're  _ fans. _ There's millions of them, and there's no way you're gonna be there for all of them. Goin’ and seein’ all their fuckin’ messages and shit is only gonna wear you down, and I can see it! You've stayed up until 5am over this before, it's not healthy,” Pearl rationalized with a worried strain in her voice. “I can't even imagine what the ugly comments do to ya… Even when I was a metalhead I had people being real creeps to me online! You gotta step back, girl.”

Marina sighed, her tentacles curling in distress. “I know you're right-”

“Then listen to me! You're smart enough to know this is fuckin’ with you! It's been fuckin’ with you for a while, but you can't make everyone happy,” Pearl cut her off, desperately trying to drill this into Marina's head.

“They rely on me, Pearlie! So many people see me as their friend and all those kids who look through the window and take selfies in our studio… They're what  _ got us here, _ Pearl. They're the reason you don't have to steal from your parents to pay rent, they're the reason we're following our dreams! I can't just… I can't just leave them hanging,” Marina said, tears welling in her eyes as she gripped Pearl's hands tightly.

“Marinaaaa…” Pearl whined, frowning and pulling Marina into a hug. “You silly sentimental octopus… You can't make everyone happy, girl! Trying to just indulges their delusions that you can. We don't have time for a million or more people thinking they're best friends with you, we barely have time for our  _ actual _ friends, yknow?”

Marina seeped into Pearl's hug, her shoulders loosening up as she let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping in. “Yeah… I know,” she sighed, cuddling up against Pearl's hoodie. “I… I really do need to take a break.”

“Thatta girl,” Pearl smiled, patting her back gently as the octoling calmed down. “Now how about we eat our feelings and watch some HueTube or somethin'?”

Marina chuckled, sitting up and grabbing one of the room-temp boxes of take out before closing the social media tabs on her laptop and switching to the crochet tutorial she had open. “I'd like that, yeah.”

Pearl snorted at Marina's video of choice. “Crochet? Really? You're such a nerd.” she mocked, bumping up against her.

Marina nudged her back. “Hush up, Pearlie, you like whittling ASMR videos so you have no right to judge.”

Pearl laughed through the shrimp she was chewing on. “Owch, ‘Reena. We're gonna have to write this down for the news if you keep callin' me out me like that.”

The girls giggled together as they snuggled up and indulged themselves in their take out, ready to pass out thirty minutes later.


End file.
